One Step at a Time
by DreamersEclipse
Summary: Flailing your arms like a fool with nothing left to lose may work well in a club with fast paced music but in the quiet privacy of Shepard's cabin, Kaidan finds that there is a type of dancing that his two left footed Commander is good at. Shepard and Kaidan slow dance. (mShenko, fluff)


**Slow Down the Beat**

Summary: Flailing your arms like a fool with nothing left to lose may work well in a club with faced music but in the quiet privacy of Shepard's cabin, Kaidan finds that there is a type of dancing that his two left footed Commander is good at. Shepard and Kaidan slow dance. (mShenko, fluff)

A/N: Some lovely Shenko fluff for all the Shenko fans! Enjoy. Criticism welcome, reviews worshiped, flames used to roast marshmallows.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect; in the words of another great authoress "I only play in their sandbox".

Kaidan awoke with a start, the data pad he had been reading falling from his chest to the floor. His heart was pounding like a bass drum beating his chest. He cast an anxious nightmare induced objective gaze about the room. The starboard was dark with only the lamp closest to his chair turned to a dull level luminosity and flashing streaks of white stars dancing as the Normandy made its way through space. Once he was sure there were no enemies in the darker corners of the room he managed to calm himself a little more.

The adrenaline faded leaving him feeling a little sick in sweat. He couldn't even remember what the dream was about, just that it was one of the worst ones he'd ever had. Something to do with Shepard and once he noted that he tried to push it away in case picking at it meant remembering something horrible, unreal illusion or not, happening to him. To Shepard.

He took a few deep breaths and ran a hand down his face, feeling sticky and gross and in desperate need of a shower and some food. When he moved to sit up in the reclined seat next to the library he felt the soreness in his limbs not just from the uncomfortable sleeping conditions but because of all the aches and pains gained from their recent battles. It only made the thought of a shower sound that much more like heaven. Especially when he heard a pop in his back as he bent down to retrieve the fallen data pad.

Kaidan groaned and stood up, pressing a hand into his lower back as he stretched. He glanced at the rolling list of numbers and names; a compilation of reports for the war that he had been going over before unexpectedly dozing off. He wasn't surprised that sleep decided to take over without his consent. With all the missions they've been running to collect resources from around the galaxy he knew it was a matter of time before the exhaustion caught up with him.

His stomach rumbled demandingly and he realized he hadn't ate anything for twenty four hours already. There was a stale taste in his mouth enhanced by dry parchedness of having not drank anything for a while on top of everything else. Kaidan rolled his neck and shoulders before stuffing the data pad into one of the bigger pockets on his cargo slacks and making his way to the mess hall.

The crew deck was practically a ghost town. The only other living sole was an officer who made rounds around the floor more out of a personal anxiety than a professional obligation. Even Chakwas was nowhere to be seen through the glass window panes of the med bay. One glance at his omni tool told him why. It was 0100 standard time; regular shift ended at midnight and it was the slot of time right before the second shift started. He breathed heavily through his nose and made his way to the kitchen where he resignedly searched for a bland meal to eat, praying they had something more than protein bars stocked.

In the fridge there were several dishes of food labeled. Some dextro stuff for Garrus and Tali that looked like unappetizing blobs and tons of other bowls all labeled with the names of crew members. A lot of them read 'Don't Eat!' with tons of exclamation marks to get the point across, even if it was a bit overdone if not understandable.

He did find one Tupperware set not labeled. He pulled it out and peeled off the red lid, the distasteful smell of cold food coming out on one huge wave of scent before Kaidan made the effort to block off his nose. That aside the food itself looked pretty good. A brief memory flashed in his mind of Vega saying he was going to make Juevos Rancheros the next chance he got and a wicked smile came on his face. He threw it into the microwave, punched in three minutes and leaned against the counter to wait. "Hey Edi."

"Yes, Major?" Her feminine disembodied voice spoke from the ceiling in a quieter tone than normal though still as clear.

Kaidan went to pull some water bottles out of the drinks fridge, "Has Shepard eaten anything yet? Or is he still holed up in his quarters?"

"The Commander hasn't eaten anything in 23 hours, 32 minutes, 17 seconds and counting. My attempts of 'needling' him to eat have not met any results. Perhaps you will fare better, Major." There was a hint of exasperated amusement in her voice as much as would be allowed in her robotic lisp but there was also a sense of fond warmth to it and Kaidan just shook his head with a silent laugh on his lips.

"We'll see. Thank you, Edi."

The microwave went off and Kaidan's mouth watered at the smell that came as he pulled it out. He dug around in the drawers for two forks and dropped them in the bowl, stuffed a couple nasty protein bars in his pockets and took the two water bottles in one hand while the other held the food then he made his way around to the elevator where he was immediately grateful for Edi setting his destination to the captain's quarters for him.

With a hiss the door to Shepard's room opened and he walked through, having the heavy blue light from the fish tank wash over him as he descended the stairs. "Hey, Shep." He called in way of alerting the other man to his presence.

Shepard turned around in his seat at the desk in time to see Kaidan start laying out the food on the coffee table near the couch. "Kaidan." He awknowledged then stood up to make his way to join the biotic. "What's all this?"

"This is your hospitable Normandy room service." Shepard shook his head with a feather light laugh laced with exhaustion. Kaidan smiled wryly and pat the seat next to him. "Take a break, Shepard. You need to eat."

The commander sat next to him, their thighs touching one another and those ocean blue eyes swam over the food appreciatively. "Let me guess, you haven't eaten in a while either." Those calm stormy eyes met Kaidan's with the barest hint of a smile tugging on his lips.

"Guilty. I figured we could share in our bad habits together." They shared a smile.

Shepard picked up on of the forks. "It does smell really good. Did you make it?" He cut into the food with the fork and took a bite, a surprised sound of pleasure spilling from his mouth.

That wicked smile came back to Kaidan's face. "No, I'm pretty sure Lieutenant Vega is the master chef who made this."

Eyes gleaming in amusement he received a thin look of reproach. "And he won't be mad that we took his food?"

He shrugged, "Probably. He didn't put his name on it so by rule he forfeits ownership of it." That brought a laugh out of Shepard. "Of course, to avoid any liability issues, I won't tell if you won't."

Shepard handed him the other fork. "Deal."

They ate and talked quietly. Both of them scarfed down Vega's food and suffered through the protein bars and downed their waters gulp by sip. The music from Shepard's radio was playing since Kaidan had first walked into the room, a pleasant background noise stimulating their conversation. It was a soft and beautiful sound that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something Asari, he was sure.

He was enjoying just sitting next to Shepard and enjoying his company. There were stacks of data pads piled up on the desk. Indication of the overwhelming amount of work that the commander had been throwing himself into. That he didn't have to force him away from the work to eat was an accomplishment especially since it was getting harder and harder by the day to pry Shepard from the war for the bare necessities of healthy living.

Shepard's head perked up when a new song came on. It sounded like a human instrumental, some violin and guitar with a flute or something thrown in. He got up from the couch and looked down at Kaidan with a fiery soft gaze, holding out a hand to him. "Dance with me." He smiled.

An amused disbelieving huff escaped Kaidan. "What, seriously?" Despite the teasing quirk of his lip he put his hand in Shepard's and let himself be pulled up. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Their hands slipped into each other's easily. Kaidan's other hand went to Shepard's waist while Shepard's heavy hand rested on his shoulder.

"Different music, different dancing. I prefer this type anyway." Warm breath ghosted his cheek as they slowly rocked back and forth to the music. He could feel the callouses on his skin where their hands were met, the exuding heat from the man in front of them all bringing a type of content that he hadn't known in a long time. Shepard took a deep breath as if trying to take in everything that Kaidan was. Dry humor cracked his tone, "At least not I don't have to make a fool of myself alone."

"Right." Kaidan gave a nod, his eyes drifting to the side before resting back on Shepard's as they swayed slowly to the music. "Just be sure your two left feet mind my toes."

"Hey, I'm doing well so far." He pointed out lightly.

"Yeah, you are." Kaidan pulled Shepard a little closer and they let the soft sounds of instruments drown out the sounds of the rest of the universe.


End file.
